Chapter 2

There's something tickling in my brain. 'Last time ... Ah ... hah. Last time.' My brain is a-boil and the stove is on high!

"Now we're getting somewhere. The difference ... which I've been too complacent about ... probably because the first time was so fucking awful.'

'Daddy likes me ... so does mom ... and I'm oldest ... although Grace is willing to debate that.'

In her smug little way she said, "You know they switched wrist bands when we were born."

"Grace ... impossible. The birth certificates plainly state the boy was born first. You were born fifteen minutes later."

When she was four ... or five ... she decided she was The Boy ... and mother being the family comedienne ... agreed. She only agreed once, but Grace grabbed hold of that like Roy grabbed the rope Trigger dropped over the cliff. It wasn't until 'you show me yours and I'll show you mine' that she admitted defeat. Even then ... when she was just a little older ... and found out about circumcision ... she claimed the doctors went too far and had to tuck hers under. The debate went on for years.

That's not my memory ... my memory is of a whiny wet bundle who was three years younger. I didn't have a twin ... I had an older brother. I remember missing the cut off date for school by a week, but Chuck made the school list by one day. Instead of him being one grade ahead of me, he was two.

I was a freshman when he was a junior ... and don't you forget it!!

Chuck also got his drivers license at 14. Not learner ... not restricted ... full privileges at 14. When I was 13 and soon to be 14, the state changed the law and I could get a restricted license at fifteen. Then the legislature, in their infinite wisdom decided fifteen was too young ... they changed the age to sixteen ... the new law went into effect on May first. I was 15 on May 8.

Oh ... that's just the beginning ... a week before my 16th they decided that Drivers Ed ... taken as a class in high school ... was required and my school only offered the class in the spring ... I was too late ... again. Then the school enrolled all the fifteen year olds who would be 16 before summer. I was already 16 and I must have skipped Drivers Ed ... even though it wasn't offered the year before. I was denied the class because I would be 17 before school was out. I couldn't get a license without Drivers Ed until I was 18. Doesn't sound like much.

Imagine the frustration of a young man who was surrounded by a sea of drivers; all of them in the same grade. The first commandment of teenaged girls was: THOU SHALL NOT DATE A CAR-LESS MALE. And the second was like unto it: THOU SHALL MAKE OUT IN BACKSEATS ONLY. No car, no nookie. Not even stink finger.

The third commandment for girls: THOU SHALL NOT PICK UP BOYS. The codicil: YOU MAY ALLOW A BOY IN YOUR CAR IF HE IS A KNOWN DRIVER. (And he's cute.)

I, a hotbed of raging hormones, was denied the relief of a slutty girlfriend by the law and the prophets.

Hey ... I was pretty ... I was fast ... but I was fragile. Girls talked to me ... about their boyfriends. Every one of their boyfriends were: 1. Octopi. 2. Selfish. 3. Lazy. and those were the good parts. But not one of the girls ever said, "Why can't I find a nice guy ... like you Dave?" No ... what they said was, "Why can't I find a nice guy?" That's what I remember!

This time it was going to be different. And it already was ... that worried me. I started looking for the things that stayed the same.

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was president. That matched.

Nixon was not Vice President. No match.

World War Two in Europe was over ten years ago. Match.

In Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed in 1945 ... in 1946 we dropped a much bigger bomb in the very middle of Osaka Bay.

That bomb sent a sixty foot wall of superheated radioactive steam and water in a tidal wave that inundated the entire city complex. Millions were killed outright and millions more died from radiation poisoning. The explosion set off a 8.9 Richter scale earthquake that ravaged the island nation as far north as the Oshika Peninsula. The surrender was announced minutes before a fourth bomb was scheduled to be dropped on Tokyo.

That was not a match.

There was only one way to find out if my life here was going to be different ... well ... it already was ... but there were a few pivotal events that I could make money on ... If they worked. I had a hundred dollars in my marbles can.

"Grama?"

"You want something ... I recognize that voice."

"Do you still play the horses?"

"How did you know?"

"Trips to Detroit and betting stubs in your clothes."

"Sneak!!"

"Yes, ma'am." I laughed, "And Daddy told me it was your only vice. He called it 'the family shame.'"

"Yes," she mumbled, "I still play the ponies."

"The Derby is tomorrow, is it too late for a bookie?"

"Why?"

"I want to place a bet ... and I can't."

"Sure you can ... for me."

"Where would I go?"

"The barbershop in the Hotel."

"Would you write me a note? Grama ... I hesitate to tell you this ... but it's a sure thing."

"Ok ... can I ride?"

"Ride?"

"Bet on your sure thing?"

"I guess."

She got out pen and paper and hollered down the basement steps, "Charles? I need you."

"What do you want daddy for?"

"A witness. He'll notarize the betting slip. Give me the name of the horse and your money."

I handed her my life's savings. A single hundred dollar bill.

"Swaps, Nashua, Summer Tan, Racing Fool. All four places ... a Superfecta."

"Holy mother of god ... you're sure?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Tell me again."

I did and made sure she wrote the names and spelled them correctly.

"You wouldn't happen to know the time would you?" she asked.

I looked at my watch..."It's..."

"No ... the time of the race?"

"Under 2minutes and two seconds ... I think it's 2:057 ... no wait ... I can see it... 2:01.80. Why?"

"If you're sure and willing to bet on that too ... it'll multiply the odds by 10."

Daddy clumped up the stairs ... he hadn't started his steak and cottage cheese diet yet ... that was later this summer ... I hope ... otherwise his weight would kill him.

"Charles?" Grama never called him Charlie, "Get your notary stamp please." Daddy headed for his office. The Law Office was where the living room was supposed to be. (No Match!)